[mercury88]

I have been working on cars for years and finally i want a compressor.
I want to use it manly for sand blasting, orbital and random sanders, doing body work.
what would be a good size for a small garage. i was looking at a 5 HP 125 Max psi. today for $318.00, at a TSC store in town on sale. made by cambell. is this size ok or should i go bigger. i don,t want something that will be a waste of money or over kill.or to small to use for the air tools and sand blasting
thanks for any advice guys
Richard Ontario, Canada

[302 Z28]

Compressor ratings are very misleading at best. I am willing to bet that 5HP compressor you are looking at is rated at 5HP Peak. In actuality it is probably 1 or 2hp. It is not going to be sufficient for what you want to use it for. What you need to look at is SCFM (standard cubic feet per minute) at a specific PSI. 125 psi rating means nothing if the compressor cannot maintain a good airflow at a decent psi to run your tools.

There has been a lot of discussion on this forum about compressors. Look up the posts, they are very informative.

Vince

[Rob Keller]

a medium blaster will use a tremendous amount of air if you plan on doing frames and stuff you need to go BIG
bigger is better unless it comes to women

pressure is one thing but volume is what every one misses
you might look into getting a separate tank to do just that also make sure you dont blow yourself up while painting and such

good luck

SR66

[oldred]

302 pegged it, the CFM is what counts. Don't make the all too common mistake of thinking big HP numbers and a big tank makes a big compressor, it simply does not work that way! CFM is what counts if the CFM is low NOTHING else will make up for it NOTHING! A 60 gal tank is all you need and an 80 gal will be fine also but don't let that be the deciding factor nor don't spend extra money to get it, you will not notice any difference in compressor performance. Compressor performance is determined by how much air the pump can produce and the tank simply controls the on-off cycle rate of the motor so more tank capacity will not make the compressor more capable of running bigger tools in spite of common belief. If you intend to run body tools such as DA sanders and grinders or sandblasters then 12 CFM@90 PSI is the minimum you could get by on and you will find your self waiting a lot for the compressor to catch up at that rating. If you can afford it you would be a lot better off to look for a good two stage unit of at least 16-18 CFM and even more would be better. Just remember HP numbers mean little and a bigger tank WILL NOT help in the least in keeping up with your tools it will just make the compressor run fewer but longer cycles, the air produced will be the same regardless.